LA police chief rejects new law to control paparazzi

LOS Angeles' police chief has said a proposed new city law aimed at protecting celebrities from aggressive paparazzi would be ambiguous and impossible to enforce.

Chief William Bratton said that existing laws on jaywalking, speeding and assault could be used to deter aggressive photographers, whose round-the-clock pursuit of singer Britney Spears and other celebrities prompted calls for a crackdown.

City councillor Dennis Zine proposed creating a "personal safety zone" to regulate paparazzi shortly after city police spent £12,500 in January to escort Spears across the city to a psychiatric unit in the middle of the night.

Mr Zine, a former police officer, said the paparazzi posed a danger. Celebrities were staked out 24 hours a day and pursued in high-speed car chases by dozens of paparazzi whose numbers in Los Angeles had grown to about 300, from about 25 some 15 years ago.